JPL: Portmore put four past Harbour View

Tedj Bryan netted a first-half brace for Portmore United as they defeated struggling Harbour View 4-2 at Ferdi Neita Park, in the Jamaica Premier League (JPL) yesterday.

Bryan scored in the 17th and 29th minutes, while Romeo Guthrie (72nd) and Tonaldo Robinson scored in the second half to give the hosts a comfortable win.

Trayvone Reid with goals in the 48th and 90+1 minutes registered a double for Harbour View.

Portmore coach Rodolph Austin thought it was a top display from his team.

“First half, I think we played well. The second half, we made some changes and we also played some very good football. I didn’t like the way we conceded, but kudos to Trayvone. I think he is an exceptional talent, but the most important thing is to get back to winnings ways, and we did that today,” he said

Both teams began well, but it was Portmore’s superior quality that made the difference, with Bryan capitalising on Harbour View’s tardiness from a corner to fire home after 17 minutes.

Portmore continued to press forward and they found the second, when Bryan latched on to Nickoy Gayle’s lofted cross and stabbed a low shot past Garwin Davis for a 2-0 half-time lead.

Portmore started the second half positively and had Harbour View on the defensive for the first five minutes. However, it was Reid who latched on to a long pass from the back and dismissed Stephen Young before hammering a shot inside the near post.

Harbour View then pushed forward in search on the equaliser and had openings but they were punished in the 71st minute when a defender lost possession on top of the area and Guthrie slotted past Davis to make it 3-1.

Minutes later Robinson made it 4-1, after showing good control and awareness inside the box to evade a defender before placing the ball past Davis.

Reid then scored another brilliant individual goal in time added, racing on to a pass before turning his marker and calmly curling the ball home.

It was Portmore’s first win in four matches, and Austin said they must keep this momentum going.

“This is the business end of the season and teams are battling to get to the play-offs, while others are fighting relegation. So all of the games are going to be hard now and we just have to apply ourselves in the best way. Nothing is given; you have to go out and win games because anything can happen on the day,” Austin said.

Harbour View’s coach, Lenworth Hyde, said they need to improve defensively as a team.

“We saw some effort. We really tried our best. We started well for the first 18 minutes. We were challenging, and then we gave up a goal from a dead-ball situation. Then we gave up another goal at the back post. So defensively, we are poor and we need a lot of work in that area, because we have been scoring goals.

“The two topscorers in the league are from Harbour View, Trayvone Reid (15) and Rohan Brown (11), so we see that something is wrong defensively. It is not just the defensive line, however, everybody needs to be defending,” he stated.

livingston.scott@gleanerjm.com